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Are They
Unbreakable?
10/14/09
By Casey Barrett // Swimnetwork Columnist
Back when I was a kid, starting to dream big swim dreams, NAG
records were scripture. You knew them, you worshiped them, you
hoped and prayed to be fast enough to be in the shadow of their
presence - as a member of the yearly Top 16 lists in your
best events. I still have stacks of Swimming World magazines from
the 1980's buried somewhere in my parents' basement, with the few
times my name was listed there in the tiniest type - the
appearances made me prouder than if I'd been on the front page of
the New York Times. And I still remember the names at the top,
featured in bold face, the age group record holders who posted
times that seemed to come from another planet...
Some of these demonically fast phenoms from back in the day went
on to become Olympic champions and household names. Others, the
ones who may have been full grown by age 12 or succumbed to injury
at age 15, may not have swum on to gold medals, but they can rest
assured, their young feats have stood the test of time. Here's a
look at the top ten national age group records of all-time, posted
in short course yards... (Remember, the fun of every 'all-time'
list is to spark debate. So, let's hear where I'm wrong or who I'm
forgetting!)
10. Joe Hudepohl - 1990 - 15-16 Boys 100 Free - 43.83.
Hudepohl is an Ohio high school legend and this swim may be his
finest. Almost twenty years later, and this record has stood to up
to all sprinters. Two years after he charged under 44 seconds at
16, Hudepohl was a teen sensation at the 1992 Olympic Trials. He
raced onto the team, becoming the youngest member of the '92 squad,
and in Barcelona he picked up gold in the 4x100 Free relay and
added a bronze in the 4x200.
9. Stephanie Elkins - 1978 - 13-14 Girls 200 Free - 1:45.91
As you'll see from other entries on this list, the late 70's and
early 80's appear to be a golden era for girls' age group swimming.
Almost half of the records that continue to stand among 13-14 girls
were set around 30 years ago. Elkins went on to qualify for the
boycotted 1980 Olympic Team in the 400 Free. Like others members of
the '80 team who were turned into political puppets, Elkins never
got a chance to shine on the Olympic stage, but as a teen she was
blazingly fast.
8. Whitney Phelps - 1993 - 11-12 Girls 100 Fly - 55.68
Her kid brother Michael isn't the only champion in the family.
Whitney was world-class from the earliest age, and her time in the
100 Fly at age 12 is just insane. A back injury derailed an
Olympic-bound career, but her age group swims seem to have left an
impression: As a little boy bouncing in the stands, Michael must
have thought it was perfectly normal to see a Phelps destroy all
competition in the fly.
7. Zachary Ferguson - 1992 - 10&under Boys 100 Fly - 59.97
Breaking the one-minute barrier used to be a big deal when you
were 10 - in the 100 freestyle. Ferguson did it swimming fly. The
Iowa-native went on to become an All-American at the University of
Arizona, and apparently spent some time in the classroom as well,
posting a 3.9 GPA and earning All-Academic Pac-10 honors.
6. Tiffany Cohen - 1981 - 13-14 Girls 1650 Free - 15:54.86
Before there was Janet Evans, there was Tiffany Cohen, the greatest
female distance swimmer of the early 1980's. A member of Mark
Schubert's legendary Animal Lane on the Mission Viejo Nadadores,
Cohen was a distance queen from the earliest age. The mile she
posted 28 years back when she was 14 isn't likely to be touched
anytime soon.
5. Michael Phelps - 2002 - 15-16 Boys 200 Fly - 1:42.10
Phelps was already a world record holder by the time he set this
mark, so perhaps it's not on the short list for the great one's
all-time achievements. Still, when you take a look at his
still-standing NAG records, it's this 200 Fly that appears poised
to last for another decade at least.
4. Mary T. Meagher - 1979 - 13-14 Girls 200 Fly - 1:56.58
With all due respect to the ladies who have now exceeded her
times, Madame Butterfly is, by far, the greatest female butterflyer
in history. Like Phelps, her yards times are rather besides the
point when compared to her iconic long course standards, but seeing
that a 14-year-old girl went 1:56+ 30 YEARS AGO should make any
club coach stop in his tracks.
3. Jeff Kostoff - 1982 - 15-16 Boys 1000 Free - 8:49.97
Kostoff was an inspiration to guys who grew up a generation later,
deep in his distance wake. His times simply did not seem human. In
the 1000, he could lap Junior National qualifiers - twice! Kostoff
turned more to the medleys in his later years, starring at
Stanford, and making the U.S. Olympic team twice in the 400 I.M.,
in 1984 and 1988.
2. Sippy Woodhead - 1977 - 11-12 Girls 500 Free - 4:49.51
The oldest NAG record on the books today. Woodhead was world-class
before she was a teenager. The year before this swim, Sippy
competed at the 1976 Olympic Trials. She placed 22nd and went back
to school - and graduated from 6th grade!! By 1980, at age 15,
Woodhead was among the best female swimmers in the world. She
qualified for the '80 Games in six events and was robbed as much as
any American swimmer by the boycott.
1. Chas Morton - 1982 - 10&under Boys 50 Fly - 27.07 / 1984 -
11-12 Boys 200 IM - 1:56.61
The legend that every age group swimmer will always remember - Chas
Morton. Two and a half decades later and Morton still has four NAG
records on the books. These two look like the best of the bunch and
they're impossible to separate. Morton was a flat-out monster as an
age grouper; no one could dream of touching him. A perfectly
accomplished collegiate career (he was an All-American at Stanford)
simply pales in comparison. In the pool in the early 80's, Morton
was Mozart.
http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=205&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en
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